Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in
Friday's session are Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM, RIM.T), Michael
Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS) and Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corp.
(WMC).
Shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion dropped 1.5% to
$6.80 premarket as BlackBerry suffered another setback Friday, with
a new round of service problems in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa, less than a year after a network outage knocked out
handsets around the world. The firm has restored services and
apologized for the outage, but it didn't provide a reason for the
malfunction.
Michael Kors raised its fiscal second-quarter and full-year
earnings and revenue guidance, as the high-end apparel designer
reported double-digit same-store sales growth across its regions
for the latest period. Shares rose 3.3% to $54.08 in premarket
trading.
Western Asset Mortgage Capital more than doubled its quarterly
dividend, as the real-estate investment trust seeks to boost
shareholder returns. Shares climbed 8.3% to $24.15 premarket.
Vivus Inc. (VVUS) said a European Medicines Agency committee
signaled it will be recommending against approval for the company's
U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved weight-loss drug Qsiva.
Shares slid 12% to $20.85 premarket as the pharmaceutical company
said the formal decision is expected following the committee's
October meeting. Vivus said if a negative recommendation is given,
it may resubmit the application or appeal the decision and request
a re-examination. Shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARNA),
which has another FDA-approved weight-loss drug called Belviq, rose
2.6% to $9.00, while Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (OREX), also
working on a weight-loss drug, fell 3.7% to $5.45.
Biopharmaceutical company ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM) said that the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted the temporary hold on a
study of Cinryze combined with the recombinant human hyaluronidase
enzyme after deciding potential safety concerns were limited to
another company's specific program. Cinryze is an FDA-approved
inhibitor used to treat hereditary angioedema, a type of swelling
similar to hives. Last month, ViroPharma said the FDA was
evaluating Halozyme Therapeutics Inc.'s (HALO) recombinant human
hyaluronidase enzyme. ViroPharma shares rose 4.7% to $29.50
premarket, while Halozyme was up 29% to $8.25.
ICICI Bank Ltd. (IBN, 532174.BY), a commercial bank unit of a
financial services firm in India, saw its American depositary
shares rise 4% to $39.14 premarket amid hopes that the Indian
banking sector will gain the most from higher economic growth
following the government pushing on with reforms to revive the
slowing economy. The Indian government recently undertook a series
of reforms to boost the country's economy, including on Friday
approving a large tax cut on overseas loans taken by local
companies.
Tibco Software Inc.'s (TIBX) fiscal third-quarter earnings rose
11% as the software maker posted stronger revenue in both its major
businesses. But shares fell 1.2% to $29.50 premarket, as the
company's revenue came in at the low end of its expectations.
Pacific Ethanol Inc. (PEIX) said it plans to offer an
unspecified number of units consisting of shares of common stock
and warrants. The producer of low-carbon renewable fuels had 114.8
million shares outstanding as of Aug. 13. Shares tumbled 21% to 43
cents premarket.
Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ASTX) has discontinued clinical
development of amuvatinib because the potential cancer inhibitor
fell short of the targeted response rate in platinum-refractory
small-cell lung cancer patients. Shares of the pharmaceutical
company dropped 13% to $2.88 premarket.
Raymond James downgraded telecommunications firm Inteliquent
(IQNT) to underperform from market perform following the
announcement of the resignation of the company's chief financial
officer and chief operating officer after the market closed
Thursday. "We believe the management change signals a continued
difficult path for the company and we see the stock underperforming
its peers from current levels," the firm said in a note to clients.
Shares fell 3.8% to $10.01 premarket.
Watchlist:
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
approved a new use for its bone-building drug Prolia, allowing it
to be offered to men with osteoporosis.
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) has promoted Vincent Roche to
president, a role previously held by the chief executive.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) said Thursday it is working to improve
customers' experience with its new mapping product, after the
company replaced Google Inc.'s (GOOG) maps technology with its own
product as part of Apple's iOS 6 operating system update.
Arlington Asset Investment Corp. (AI) is offering two million
Class A shares as the investment firm looks to raise funds to
acquire targeted assets. The company had 9.1 million Class A shares
outstanding as of July 31.
Cintas Corp.'s (CTAS) fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 12% as
the company held down costs and continued to see growing revenue
from its uniform-rental business.
Covidien PLC's (COV) board has approved a 16% increase in the
company's quarterly dividend, which the health-care product
conglomerate said reflects its performance this year and confidence
in future growth.
Halliburton Co. (HAL) promoted Jeff Miller, a global
business-development and marketing executive at the
oilfield-services company, to chief operating officer.
Knight Capital Group Inc. (KCG) on Thursday gave finance chief
Steven Bisgay additional responsibilities overseeing operations,
risk and technology, the brokerage's latest move to regroup after
software problems caused huge trading losses last month.
Marsh & McLennan Cos. (MMC) said Brian Duperreault will
retire as chief executive and president at the end of the year,
with Chief Operating Officer Daniel S. Glaser succeeding him.
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) raised its quarterly dividend 10%, a
shareholder-friendly move that demonstrates the company's
confidence in its long-term strength.
Oracle Corp.'s (ORCL) fiscal first-quarter earnings climbed 11%
as software revenue and margins improved, while hardware-systems
sales continued to weaken.
Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PGNX) plans a restructuring that
includes reducing the size of the drug developer's workforce by
26%, the departure of two executives and the termination of several
early-stage projects.
Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) raised its quarterly dividend 24%
as the chip maker looks to boost shareholder value.
Thermon Group Holdings Inc. (THR) said an increased offering of
10 million shares from certain shareholders priced at a 2% discount
to Thursday's close.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@dowjones.com
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